NATIVE LEGISLATION.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 10137, 25 August 1904, Page 2

NATIVE LEGISLATION.

A PROTEST FROM THE MAORIS

APPEAL FOR LIBERTY.

(From our Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. A deputation of thirty Natives, representatives of the West and East Coasts and Taupo, waited on th© Native Affairs Committee this morning, to express then* views upon tho Native Land Raiting Bill now under consideration. The addresses of the Maori spokesmen were educative, instructive, and interesting, and if their expressions of O2)inion arc tihe voice of their people', then at no time m our history has- Native legislation been £o repugnant to the race as tliat now on the Statute books, especially that passed m 1900 and since. The. first speaker was Te Heuheu, the well-known chief of Taupo. His speech wars noticeable for its forcofulness ar.d moderation, coupled with a keen appreciation of the injustice under wlucfli his people now live. He protested against th« passing of any rating legislation while the Natives were shockingly treated by the present legislation, while they were prevented from managing their own affairs. "Remove our disabilities; give uk the same privileges as Europeans, the same, freedom, and then we will consentto be raited, to be taxed with tliem," said Te Heuheu. Then, m the characteristic style 0 f his people, he spoke as follows: "We will have none of the Maori Land Administration Act, 1900, and its"amendments. Let it go. I liken it to a stockyard, from which there is no exit. We are sheep, and for four years the Minister has endeavored to drive us into that yard, but unsuccessfully. Now lie produces a kuri (dog) to assist him. The Rating Bill is the name of the kuri, and the Minister knows that if we longer refuse to*go into his stockyard his dog will be upon us, and his teeth destroy us. Remove the stockyard, and we will meet the kuri m the open, and are not afraid." Te Heuheu was followed by Wiki Keepae. (Wanganui), Mrs J. Brown (Tama.-na-ki), Ropata Rnnipira. (Manawatu), who collectively represent several Ulm-usa-nd Maoris. Their voice was one, an appeal* unanimous, determined: ''Give us the liberties of other Britis.li subjects, and until that, is done we protest against the tialia now lifted by the Native Minister to destroy us."